Black Son
by Mandaquila
Summary: What would happen if Superman had landed in Gotham City instead of Smallville? This is as far as I have gotten untill now. When reactions are good, I might continue. I know this is the premises of the comic "speeding bullets". I haven't read it but I tried to expand and give my own spin to it.
1. Crash landing

When Thomas woke up everything was hazy. There had been a crash, and then half the building collapsed. Martha... What had happened to Martha. "Martha? MARTHA!?" He heard coughing coming from under a heap of rubble. He hurried over and found his wife. "Martha are you all right?" He asked clearing of the rubble.

Martha opened her eyes. "What happened?"

"I have no idea." Thomas answered as he cleared the rubble covering her and checked her for injuries.

Martha's eyes opened wide in shock and she clasped Thomas' arm. "Bruce." She said. "Was the baby room hit?"

Thomas swallowed. "I don't know. But I'm going to see now. Stay here." With these words he got up and carefully made his way through the half destroyed room. "Alfred!?" no answer. Somehow a whole wing of the house had collapsed. The wing with the babies room. As Thomas waded his way through the wreckage that once was Wayne Manor he kept yelling for his friend and butler. "ALFRED!?" Then an answer came.

"I'm up here, Sir." As Thomas looked up he saw Alfred standing through a hole in the ceiling. He looked battered but relatively healthy. "You need to come up here master Wayne. There seems to be a part of the staircase that is still intact."

Thomas looked over and nodded. "You seem to be right." he yelled back. "Stay put, I'll be right there." He started moving toward the stairs, avoiding loose wires and crumbling debris. He finally reached Alfred. "Alfred, that is a nasty gash on your head, let me see that."

Alfred waved him away. "Later, Sir" he said worried.

This is when Thomas saw the sorrowed look in his friends eyes. "Where is Bruce?" he asked grabbing Alfred by the shoulders.

The butler looked down in disappointment. "I'm sorry, Sir." Thomas fell to his knees still holding on to the butler. As he started sobbing Alfred carefully put a hand on his friends shoulder. "Sir." he said. When Thomas Wayne did not react right away he repeated a little firmer. "Sir, there is something else that you need to see."

Thomas looked up to the butler. "What?" he asked with a grief stricken voice.

"The thing that caused this sir." Alfred said as he started pulling Thomas up from his knees. He started leading the way towards the babies room. "Just prepare yourself Sir." He warned before he opened the door. Inside was total destruction. Even the word 'inside' was a relative term right now. The outer wall was knocked out. Through the hole Thomas could see a path of destruction where something seemed to have skidded and bounced over the outskirts of Gotham and somehow managed to come to a stop in his son's room. He followed the trail of the object to the opposite wall. It had left nothing but destruction in his wake. There wasn't even a trace of Bruce or his crib left. Then Thomas saw what had made the trail, and he couldn't believe his eyes. Right there, in front of his eyes there was something he could only describe as a spaceship of some sorts. "What is that thing Alfred?"

"I'm not quite sure master Wayne." Alfred answered. "But it looks utterly alien." He added, looking back to the path of destruction. "Do you think someone is inside Sir?"

Thomas started walking toward it. "If there's something breathing in there, it won't be for much longer" he said, anger dripping from his voice. He approached what looked like the cockpit and started banging the dome. When it opened he fell silent as his rage subsided.

"Sir? What's wrong?" Alfred asked coming up behind him. But as he looked into the ship himself he covered his mouth in shock. "My Lord." was all he could mutter.

Thomas reached inside to pick up the baby sleeping in a blue and red blanket. He cradled the child in his arms as he was rendered completely speechless.

"Sir, what are you planning to do?" Alfred asked.

"What can we do? If we turn it in to the government they'll just experiment on it. I think we should keep him."

"But sir..." Alfred's argument was cut short by Martha's voice coming from outside.

"Thomas. Alfred. What happened?"

Thomas quickly handed Alfred the baby but was too late to stop Martha from entering the room. She looked around and could see what had happened to Bruce right away. She fell down on her knees. "No, no. My baby, oh my baby."

Thomas took her in his arms and let her cry. After what seemed like minutes had past, he held her in front of him and gave Alfred a sign to come closer. He took the baby from Alfred and showed it silently to Martha.

She looked at it confused at first. Then she just smiled and said "Bruce." Thomas and Alfred exchanged glances, but before any of them could say something Martha just kept saying "Thank God Bruce, I thought you were gone. Thank God, Bruce. It's a miracle." Both men decided to leave it at that. Martha needed this right now.

In the following moments the police and fire department came. Thomas knew detective Gordon and he knew which people to bribe to keep the story about the spaceship quiet. But even they never knew what was inside. For everyone else the boy they found that night was Bruce Wayne, only son of Martha and Thomas Wayne and heir to the Wayne empire.


	2. Young Bruce

Years had past and the Wayne family had taken the child in as their own. Thomas had the spacecraft moved to the caves under the house. Eventually only he and Alfred knew its true origins and where Bruce truly came from. Martha seemed to have grown fond of the kid as well. She kept calling it Bruce, but somewhere deep down, Thomas feared she knew the truth. And he feared it was eating her from the inside. Sometimes when he came into the house the halls were filled with maniacal laughter that quickly faded after he had entered.

The first year or so after the incident Thomas spent lots of time in the caves, studying the ship, trying to find out where his new son came from. He didn't make much headway in deciphering the strange language he found in the ship. It didn't match any known language, dialect or form of writing known to man. Eventually he found a recording in English of a man talking about the destruction of a planet called Krypton and his son Kal-El being the only survivor. The recording begged the person who found him to take good care of him. It also said Kal-El would be enabled access to the ship and all its data once he reached a suitable age. After this Thomas decided to leave the ship alone until Bruce was old enough to understand what had happened. He locked the door to the cave and gave Alfred the only key.

The years past by and Bruce grew into a healthy young boy. As a doctor however, Thomas started to notice things out of the ordinary. The boy never got sick and was extremely agile and strong for his age. He had tried to do a blood work, but the needle had bent of his skin. He kept loving the boy as his own however. Through the years he educated the boy in wisdom and morals, making sure that he would be ready for whatever came his way. Thomas and Alfred did everything to make young master Bruce into a respectful young man, and Thomas was amazed about the intelligence this young boy showed.

Martha on the other hand seemed a little more distant every passing day. It was as if she subconsciously knew he wasn't the Bruce she had birthed, and her mother instincts that had taken over at first were now slowly subsiding. As the boy grew older she spent more and more time alone. Sitting in her room, working on chemistry tests or creating small devices that never seemed to work. Even though Bruce went in there from time to time to help her, she never seemed to completely open up to him. But she kept smiling. She was always smiling, through it all.

One night however Martha came to Thomas saying it would be a good idea for the whole family to head out to the theater. Glad to see his wife open up again Thomas embraced the idea. He really enjoyed the night with his family. When they walked out of the theater Martha suggest them to take a shortcut through an alleyway. "Are you sure about this dear?" Thomas asked.

"Please Thomas." She answered with a smile "What could possibly go wrong?"

They weren't that far into the alley when they heard a rough voice coming from the shadows. "Stick'em up. I'll have your money and all your other valuables."

As Thomas' eyes adjusted to the light he saw a man pointing a gun at them stepping out of the shadows. "Bruce, Martha. Get behind me." He said. He was shocked however to see Martha taking a step forward instead of cowering behind him. She grabbed in her purse.

"Hey lady." The man with the gun said. "I would stay back if I were you."

"Why." Martha answered with an extreme calm voice. "You wanted my valuables right?" she continued while opening her purse. "Just take what you want from inside."

The man looked suspicious to Martha, then to Thomas. He kept the gun pointed on Martha and looked into the purse. To his surprise a green cloud of gas puffed into his face from inside the purse. He shook his head. "What... What is thihihihiis Hahaha."

Even before he could finish his sentence Thomas watched in horror as the man started laughing uncontrollably. Before the robber fell to the ground, Thomas saw his own wife, slowly reaching over and grabbing the gun from the mans hand. At that point she joined the man in his laughter, but hers was somehow even less controlled, and that made it all the more scary. Then while she was laughing she put the gun against the mans head and pulled the trigger so only her own laughing remained in the alley. "Stay behind me Bruce." Thomas said trying to block the boys view from this horror.

"Why would you call him that?" Martha asked pointing the gun at Thomas.

"Because it is his name." Thomas answered slowly, raising his hands in the air.

"No it isn't." Martha said, the unnerving smile still on her face.

"Mom, Dad. What's happening?" Young Bruce said peeking from behind his fathers back.

"Don't call me that." Martha screamed pointing the gun towards Bruce.

Thomas saw this as his chance and lunged forward, throwing himself on the gun. Bit he was too slow. The gun went of and Thomas slumped to the ground.

"Dad!" Bruce yelled as he ran over and kneeled besides his father. "Dad!" He started shaking his fathers shoulder. "Mom, what did you do?"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Martha yelled as she fired two shots in Bruce's direction. "You are not my son!" Then she stumbled back as the bullets ricocheted of Bruce's head and one grazed her face, leaving a wound on her left cheek.

Bruce turned around, his tear filled eyes glowing red.

Martha stumbled back further shooting two more bullets in his face before her gun was empty. When these sparked of his body as well her smile disappeared. "What are you?" She could just in time step aside so the glowing red beams coming from Bruce's eyes didn't hit her straight in the face. But not fast enough to completely avoid them. The beam made a long wound on her right cheek before she fell to the ground, bumped her head and lost consciousness.

Bruce was left alone now, crying over his fathers body until the police arrived. When they arrived Bruce didn't speak. Everything that followed felt like fast forwarded memories. The last thing he remembered was the medics saying something about permanent damage to his mothers face as they took her away. He just sat quietly in the police car and then the station, absorbing the shock of what happened until Alfred came to pick him up.


	3. The thing I am

When Alfred finally arrived young Bruce let go of his tears and wrapped himself around the older man that now seemed like the only family he had left. He still didn't speak however. He just held on to Alfred until they reached the car where he curled up on the backseat, sobbing softly. It was only the next day, after Alfred had cleaned him up and carefully got him to sleep, that Bruce spoke. The first thing that he said however was a shock to the old butler. "Alfred? What am I?"

The butler blinked at this question. "You are Bruce Wayne." He said slowly. "Son of ..."

Before Alfred could finish Bruce interrupted him. "Not who, Alfred. What?"

The butlers eyes widened for a moment as he realized the impact of this question. Then his shoulders slumped and he looked down. "Why do you ask, Master Bruce?"

"Something happened last night, Alfred." Bruce said. He started sobbing. "Something that wasn't normal."

Alfred frowned. He sat down in a chair and motioned for Bruce to sit on his lap. "It's all right now master Bruce. Try and tell me what happened." The butler listened calmly. His curiosity quickly turned to horror as Bruce told him about Martha going crazy, and then to complete confusion when Bruce told him how the bullets flew off him and how the beams had shot from his eyes. When Bruce was done and looked at Alfred with big questioning eyes, the butler pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep sigh. "I think it's time you knew master Bruce."

"Knew what Alfred?"

"Just come along" the butler said as he got up and took young Bruce by the hand. "it would be best for you to see this for yourself." He guided Bruce to the old standing clock. A tap on the right place shoved it to the side and revealed a door. Alfred grabbed a key hanging on a chain around his neck. A key Bruce had seen before but had never known where it went.

Bruce followed Alfred down a long staircase into a dark cave. As they moved further down Bruce could hear a distinct peeping. It got stronger as they walked down. Then when Alfred opened a second door it overwhelmed him. He fell to his knees covering his ears. "Alfred make it stop. Please Alfred, make it stop."

The butler looked down confused. He had no idea what was happening. He went down on one knee and brought his face level with Bruce's to look him in the eyes. "Calm down Master Bruce. Focus on my voice. Try and hear only my voice."

Bruce somehow heard him and started concentrating on Alfred. Slowly the peeping noise subsided. Bruce started crying again as he wrapped his arms around the old mans neck. "What's happening Alfred? What is going on?"

"I don't know master Bruce." The butler answered as he embraced the boy. "But maybe we'll find some answers in there."

As Alfred moved aside Bruce saw something amazing. Something that looked like a small, red and blue colored, rocket. Mesmerized Bruce walked towards it. He walked around it as in a trance, observing every corner of it. He carefully stretched his arm out and put his hand on it. That's when the ship started glowing and the cockpit opened up. A robotic voice came from inside. "_Welcome Kal-El, last son of Krypton._"

The boy turned to face Alfred. "Who is Kal-El?" He asked confused.

Before the butler could answer the voice said "_You are._"

"No, I'm not. I'm Bruce Wayne." Bruce answered.

"_That is your given name by Martha and Thomas Wayne. But your birth name however is Kal-El._"

Bruce looked questioning at Alfred again.

"This is the ship me and your father found you in almost eight years ago." He said with a look of shame in his eyes.

"_Affirmative._" The voice from the ship said. "_And now that young Kal-El has come to me, it is my programming to teach him._"

"Who are you?" Bruce asked the ship.

"_I am the artificial intelligence that guided this ship here. The Brain of the ship if you want. I gathered all the information you need to learn how your body reacts to this worlds atmosphere. Since you have come to me in this young age your mind is still very perceptive. I should be able to teach you all you need in a months time._"

"Can you tell me what happened to me and my parents?" Bruce asked.

"_Yes._" Was the ships simple answer.

Bruce turned to Alfred. "I need to do this Alfred."

"I know." Alfred answered. "I will check in daily." The he turned toward the ship. "And as for you, you blasted machine. If anything, and I mean anything at all happens to master Bruce, I'll have you torn in so many pieces that all the Kings horses and all the Kings men could never even hope to put you back together again."

"_Understood._" Was the machines passive answer. "_Now Kal-El, please step into the cockpit. Then we can start the learning process._"

Bruce took one last look at Alfred. When he received a nod and a smile from his friend he climbed in the cockpit. It closed over him and lights started flashing inside. Alfred stayed some time, worried about his young master, but when all seemed fine he moved back upstairs. For the next month Alfred went around doing his normal work. Three times a day he went down to the cave however to bring food for master Bruce. But every time he came down the last meal was still there and master Bruce's position in the ship hadn't changed. He was just sitting there, looking at pictures and signs flashing before his eyes.

Finally the long month was over. Alfred spent the last days completely in the cave, waiting for the ship to open up. When it finally opened Alfred ran to its side. "Master Bruce, are you all right?"

Bruce looked at him and Alfred saw something different in his eyes. A feeling of wisdom and regret mixed together. "I'm fine Alfred."

"Would you like something to eat master Bruce?" The butler asked.

"Apparently I don't need that much food." Bruce answered. "But right now, I would really love some of your special Pennyworth stew, Alfred."

Alfred smiled. "You shall have as much as you want." He answered as he picked Bruce out of the ship. "But you must tel me all you learned."

"I will." Bruce promised. "Bye Brainiac." He yelled at the ship.

"_Goodbye young Bruce._" The ship answered.

"You named the ship?" Alfred asked.

"I named the brain of the ship. He'll need a bigger home though."

"We'll talk about it later." Alfred took Bruce upstairs and listened to the stories the boy told as he cooked him dinner. He was amazed as Bruce showed him how he could heat things with his eyes and hear even the bats in the cave. That must've been what happened a month ago. "Brainiac learned me to control it now though." Bruce said. Then he continued about new powers that he would develop. Alfred could only marvel at the things young Bruce told him. As he finally finished however Bruce turned all serious. "What happened to Mom?"

The butler swallowed. "Detective Gordon came by." He started slowly. "He told me your mother had a nervous breakdown. They had to lock her up in Arkham Asylum."

"Why did she need to be locked up?"

"She..." Alfred paused looking for the right words. "She did some bad things when they arrested her. They had to lock her away from anyone. No visitors, no contact. She needs time to let her mind heal."

Bruce looked down taking some deep breaths. "I need to make sure this never happens again." He grimly stated.

"But master Bruce..." Alfred started.

"No buts Alfred. I have been given all these powers. What use would they be if I don't use them to pursue justice."

"But you're just a boy."

"I know. That is why I will need to train and learn about the world. We'll start with equipping the cave. It will become a place where I can find solitude."

"A cave of solitude?" Alfred asked.

"Sure." Bruce answered. "We need a big strong computer. The best Waynetech can afford or build. That's where we'll link up Brainiac."

Alfred wanted to protest, but he saw the fire in Bruce's eyes. He sighed. "Very well. Let's build this cave of solitude."


	4. Self discovery

The next couple of years, their lives were dedicated to building the cave and to research. Bruce spend a lot of days reading and studying about psychology and criminal investigation, helped by advanced teaching methods from his computer friend. Alfred decided to protect the boy as good as he could by sharing his hands on experience from his time in the army and at Scotland Yard. He even showed Bruce some of his old case files as a last attempt to scare the boy off. He quickly saw that this wouldn't work as the boy worked through them and even solved most of them. The boy was fast, faster then anyone else Alfred had ever met. He could read books in minutes and think just as fast. The boy also spend lots of time developing the powers he already had. They brought different targets in different materials down to test the power and train the accuracy of his laser eyes. He really seemed to grow in controlling the strength and accuracy of his beams.

His ears however were another story. Alfred would see him spend hours just focusing on his hearing, trying to hear beyond the bats. But every time he would end up holding his hands over his ears and screaming in frustration. He regularly punched a hole into the bedrock cursing the bats out loud when he couldn't quite bottle up his frustration. These were the times Alfred was really worried about the boy.

These, and the times Alfred would wake up in the middle of the night when he heard Bruce scream. He would walk into young Bruce's bedroom and find the boy trashing in his bed, ripping his sheets apart or punching straight through his mattress. The first couple of times Alfred had moved in to comfort the boy, but he was thrown back into the wall once, and could just evade being burned by Bruce's lasers another time. After that, Bruce decided to sleep in the cave. There would be less damage in there.

One night Alfred came down to find young Bruce lying unconscious on the floor with a green rock next to him. He dropped everything in his hands and ran down the stairs. "Master Bruce, Master Bruce!" He yelled. "Brainiac, what happened?" The computer screen they installed just flickered and showed some Kryptonian gibberish. When Alfred reached them he did the only thing he could think of and kicked away the rock. When it had rolled far enough Bruce jumped up as he pulled in a deep breath and Brainiac flipped back online. "What the bloody hell happened? What was that thing?"

Bruce was still catching his breath so Alfred turned to the computer. "_It was a piece of Krypton._" The computer stated. "_We found the specific signature of Kryptonian material using the Waynetech satellites. Bruce decided to try and learn more about his home. The effects were not as expected. This piece of Krypton seems to have been radioactive. But only to other Kryptonian life forms as the evidence shows._"

"So that's why it influenced the two of you?" Alfred asked.

"_Yes, it seems to me the radiation shorted out the living circuits in my ship. That's why even I couldn't call for help. I already put a fail safe in place for when this would happen again._" The computer blandly stated.

By this time Bruce had caught his breath. "Thanks Brainiac. I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to plate him with lead as well Alfred." Bruce coughed.

"I'll take care of that personally master Bruce." Alfred answered. "Now stay here as I take care of this blasted piece of Kryptonian plutonium."

Bruce smiled. "Kryptonium" he said with a musing tone in his voice "I like the sound of it."

Alfred shook his head, got up and grabbed the piece of rock. "I must have some sort of lead laced box somewhere upstairs." He walked up and by the time he came back down Bruce looked a lot better. "By the way master Bruce." Alfred remarked. "What Brainiac said made me think. He said THIS piece. Are there more pieces out there?"

Bruce nodded. "Show him Brainiac."

A world map appeared on the screen. Several places all over the map were pinned with green markers. "_These are all the places we found this specific type of ... kryptonium, as master Bruce named it._"

"This specific type? Are there more?"

Markers in a couple of other colors popped up. "_There are some, slightly different, types out there. Each of them emits a different kind of radiation and might have a different effect on young Bruce_."

"It seems like we finally found a weakness in my Kryptonian body." Bruce said with a smile. "Let the scientists in Wayne Industries perform all the tests they can on it. I think I will do some traveling."

"_M_a_s_t_e_r _B_r_u_ce?" Both Brainiac and Alfred asked at the same time.

"I need to develop my powers more. I can't do that in this cave. I must see the world and learn about my limits and weaknesses in real life situations. I need to gather real experience." Bruce said with a voice filled with determination.

Alfred knew there was nothing to do or say that would stop the boy. "Then let me go with you master Bruce."

"No, Alfred. I need to do this alone. I'll take a communicator with me to stay in touch with Brainiac and you for information."

"Very well then master Bruce. I'll have the Jet prepared for tomorrow." Bruce did not react to that, but the next day when Alfred went to wake him up he found the bed unslept and the cave empty. Brainiac relayed him the message that young Bruce had set of on foot to train his already overpowered muscles and to find their limits.


	5. All over the world

A couple of weeks had past now since Bruce had leapt of in the middle of the night with the location of the different kinds of Kryptonium in his pockets. He leapt in long jumps through the air, clearing great distances. With every mile he was able to leap further, sometimes it felt like he could actually fly. It felt like true freedom. But even in his joy and happiness he still wondered if he should let Alfred know that he was fine.

He jumped over fields in Kansas by now and stopped in the small city of Smallville. There had been signs of a lot of Kryptonium crashing in this area some years after his arrival. It was certainly worth a look. He enjoyed hospitality from the Kent family and their baby girl, Clarice. "If it had been a boy we would've named him Clark."

"That's a nice name." Bruce said. "Mind if I borrow it? You know, whenever I need a secret identity." he continued with a playful smile on his face. "How old is she now?" He asked as he watched her play.

"She'll turn two next month." Jonathan proudly stated.

"Then she must've been born around the time of that big meteor shower that hit this town?" The Kents got nervous at this statement, but Bruce decided to push a little further anyways. "I was hoping to see some of the crash sites."

"Not much to see." Jonathan answered bluntly. "The holes were filled and everyone is trying to forget that day even happened." he continued with a grim look on his face, never taking his eyes off Clarice.

"Who's up for desert?" Martha asked in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood. It was clear to Bruce that this was a painful subject so he decided to let it rest. As he tried to gather more information in the town, later on he also learned why the subject was such a painful one. He learned that the meteor shower had been a tragic day where quite some people had died. Bruce visited some of the crash sites but they were all closed up and there was no green Kryptonium to be found.

He was about to give up when he stumbled upon some glowing blue rock. He used his communicator for mobile scans and found it to be Kryptonium. He didn't get sick when he approached though. "Best not to take any chances." He mumbled as he turned around and leapt in the air. To his surprise though he only stumbled and went down flat on his face. And it hurt. "What happened?" He tried again. Nothing. He looked back at the blue rock. He he tried focusing, but heard nothing of the overwhelming noise he always had to block out. Then he squinted his eyes, but no fiery beams shot out of them. "Interesting." he said as he picked up the rock and put it in a special lead container he had brought. The moment he closed the box the noise came rushing back in. He fell to his knees, unprepared for the return of his powered up senses. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to cancel them out again. "Very interesting." he repeated. He would do good to send this to Alfred and Brainiac for testing. But not without keeping a piece for himself.

After sending the package off Bruce kept going. For one year he kept leaping around the American continent, expanding his limits until felt certain that he could cross the ocean by leaping and swimming. From time to time he left a little message for Alfred, telling him he was fine. He had learned by now the blue Kryptonium canceled out the effects of the other colors he encountered. After going berserk and leveling a part of the rainforest when he encountered a red piece, he decided to send the pieces home before testing the effects on himself. Brainiac and Alfred kept updating him with information. He heard how his mother had escaped Arkham, killing more people on the way out, and that she now had disappeared into the city. That was also the night when the nightmares returned. Dreams about bullets sparking of and lasers burning flesh flashed before Bruce's eyes. But this time it was safe, he couldn't hurt anyone as long as he kept the blue Kryptonium close.

He finally crossed the ocean to Europe. He kept honing his strength there, both with and without his powers using the blue Kryptonium, and kept training his developing skills. His invulnerability and strength were first put to a real test as he had a collision with some bulls in Madrid. In France he learned he could see through solid objects when he visited the Louvres. While traveling through Belgium he learned that he could blow with the force of a small hurricane when he saved fifteen people from a burning building. Stopping a bank robbery in Switzerland showed him how to use his strength to reach extreme speeds. But however hard he tried he still could not focus his hearing. He could turn it off, but there was no way to understand anything when he was hearing everything.

By the time he was fifteen he moved on to Asia. He had heard about several masters there that trained in ancient martial arts. They were known to use meditation to hone their human skill set to peak levels. Bruce found himself visiting martial artist after martial artist. While wearing his blue Kryptonium bracelet he trained in several forms of martial arts but he never felt he was being taught good enough. Every time he said he was looking for the strongest, best and most disciplined teacher to teach him, everyone just answered: "Teacher finds you." And then, after months of training and searching, a teacher finally found him as he was training in the mountains of Tibet without his bracelet.


	6. Demon Training

Bruce was juggling giant boulders when a group of ninjas dressed in all black came out of nowhere. At first he kept them of easy, but then a female figure dressed in red arrived. Somehow she was able to counter his strength with swift dodges and by redirecting his punches. She countered his speed with amazing reflexes. She wasn't expecting his super breath however. With one burst she got hit back into the snow, but she was quickly able to counter even this by using his power against him. With right positioning she made him create an avalanche with his breath so that Bruce buried himself. Bruce tried to punch his way out but he was disoriented, not knowing up from down. Then he tried to fire his lasers but the cold stopped him from focusing. Soon he grew numb and lost consciousness. If only he had been stronger.

When Bruce woke up he was lying on a hard bed, the scent of incense overwhelming his senses. He jumped up looking around. The red ninja that beat him earlier was sitting next to his bed. He took a moment to focus on her. She had taken her mask of and she was beautiful, with long dark brown hair and deep brown eyes. "You're awake." she said with a smile.

Bruce regained his composure and lunged towards her throwing a fist in her direction. She easily caught it and pushed him back. "How did you?" Bruce asked looking first at her then at his fist.

The girl held up his blue Kryptonium bracelet. "This seems to take your special abilities away."

"How do you know about that?"

"We've been watching you. A teenage billionaire doesn't really blend in you know, Bruce."

Bruce reacted shocked "Who are you?"

"My name is Talia Al Ghul, daughter of Ra's Al Ghul, leader of the league of shadows."

"So what do you want from me? Money?"

"It's not my place to discuss. I'll let my father know that you've awakened." She bowed down her head and left the room. A guard came in, holding his bracelet clearly visible as a warning not to try anything. So Bruce waited until an older looking man walked in. He seemed to exude authority from his presence. His dark gray hair was carefully combed back over his head, and the shots of white running through the sides gave him somehow a look of wisdom. He looked at Bruce with green glowing eyes that reminded him a little too much of the Kryptonium that had knocked him unconscious that one time. Those eyes seemed to cut straight through his flesh and bones, seeing into his very soul.

"Young Bruce." the man said in a warm voice. "I'm so glad to see you're fine." he took the bracelet and dismissed the guard. "There wont be any need for this now will there?" He said in a provocative tone as he threw the bracelet in a lead chest.

The moment the chest closed Bruce jumped out of the bed toward the man. To his surprise the man didn't even move to dodge his attack. He simply reached out and with a swift gesture of his hand redirected the boy into a wall. Bruce emerged from the hole his body had created and shook off the rubble. He focused, two beams shot from his eyes toward his opponent. They never hit their target though. Before Bruce could see what had happened the man was next to him pushing back Bruce's head and turning the boy away from him. Bruce tried to turn and break free, but somehow he couldn't. He was slammed hard to the floor. He relaxed his muscles. "Is this why they call you the demons head?" Bruce asked. "Due to your great strength?"

"Impressive." Ra's answered as he released the boy. "You understand the meaning of my name."

"I picked up some languages as I traveled the world. Arabic was one of them." The boy said clearing his face from rubble. "So how are you so strong?"

"Strength is no replacement for skill."

"Are you saying I'm unskilled?" Bruce asked a little insulted.

"I'm saying you're untrained. But the fact that you're still alive proves that I see potential. You've been honing your powers, but they are not what you need. When you rely on them they will betray you." He grabbed into the chest to take the bracelet. "I see you realized this already." he continued as he studied the bracelet. "But still you aren't trained."

"I never found the best master." Bruce stated. "But," he continued as he stood up. "It seems that he found me." He clasped his hands together and bowed in front of Ra's Al Ghul as a student would in front of his master.

"Why do you seek the best master boy?" The demon asked.

"So I could become a force for justice."

Ra's smiled. "Come my boy." he said opening his arms in a welcoming gesture. "I have a lot to teach you."

Bruce was given his bracelet back with the specific instruction not to take it off for two whole years, in which time there was to be no communication with the outside world. Bruce felt determined to learn so he followed the instructions given to him. Ra's started out with sending him to several monasteries to learn specialized forms of armed and unarmed combat. He even spent a whole month learning several meditation techniques without being allowed to speak a single word. Then he started training with Talia, and Bruce was surprised to see how quickly he surpassed her. But even after he had grown past her level of skill they kept spending evenings in training together. They worked so hard that they achieved perfect synchronization. Talia even convinced him to take of his bracelet to work on some of his powers together. It wasn't long before their respect for one another grew into love.

The days were different though. Now that he was able to go toe to toe with the strongest members of the league he was taken in by Ra's himself as his personal pupil. This lead to a vigorous training regimen of sword fighting, stealth skills, hand to hand combat, traditional weapons training, fighting and military strategy training and advanced meditation. By the time the two years were done Bruce had grown to a strong and insightful young man, even without his powers.


	7. Justice

"The day has come young Bruce. There is not much left to teach you." Ra's said. "From now on you will be a force of justice in the league of shadows."

What Ra's did not realize was that in the two years he had been trained, Bruce had gathered quite some information about the league. Enough to know their brand of justice wasn't the justice he was looking for. Bruce stood up from his kneeling position. "The same justice you gave the business man in Shanghai last year? Or those oil miners in Southern Australia? That's no justice that's murder!"

Ra's sighed. "You weren't supposed to know that yet. You aren't ready to see the sacrifices needed for justice. Sacrifices that could've saved your fathers life."

"Don't even mention my father. I appreciate the training, but I think I'll have to find my own justice."

"Do you think it will be that easy to leave?" Ra's said towering above Bruce.

As he looked Ra's in the eyes he grabbed the bracelet and shoved it in the lead laced bag that Talia had given him. "Yes." He simply stated as he started to float upward until he was on eye height with the demon.

Ra's hid the fury building up in his chest pretty well. But Bruce could see his temples pulsing. "Men, get him!" Ra's commanded as dozens of assassins appeared from shadows all over the room.

Bruce stayed motionless in the air, never breaking away from the death stare Ra's was giving him. When a barrage of arrows and shuriken flew his way he didn't even flinch as they bounced of his body. After a couple of seconds he took a deep breath and blew all his opponents out of the room until only Ra's remained. Ra's drew his longsword. "Do you think your powers will save you Bruce?" he asked as he lunged forward.

Faster then the eye could observe Bruce's hand moved and he caught the blade between his fingertips. "No." he said as he snapped his fingers breaking the blade clean in half. "My training will."

"We'll see about that." Ra's answered as he grabbed a device in his coat. "How will you fight if you can't hear, or focus?"

Ra's pushed a button and for a second Bruce was back in the cave of solitude for the first time, overwhelmed by the screeching bats. This time however he closed his eyes calmly. He cleared his mind as he had done so many times in meditation and drove back the sound from his mind. He opened his eyes unfazed by Ra's' little gizmo. He slowly floated closer to his former master, now his enemy and simply took the device out of his hand and crushed it in his fist. "Any more tricks?" Bruce asked. Ra's stayed calm on the outside, but with his now fully trained hearing Bruce noticed his heart racing as he took on a fighting stance. Bruce just shook his head at him. "You can only use my power against me if I actually attack you. Otherwise there's nothing you can do."

Ra's sighed and relaxed his muscles. "I know. I thought you that, in fact. But you should know I wasn't planning to beat you. I was simply trying to stall you."

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Stall me for what?"

"For your biggest weakness to arrive." Ra's said with a grin.

That moment Talia walked in. "What is going on here?"

"He is betraying the league." Ra's said pointing at Bruce.

Bruce looked at Talia. "I'm leaving to pursue justice. I would love it if you would come with me."

Talia stood in the middle between her father and her love. She hesitated a moment.

"Talia don't you dare." her father yelled.

Talia looked away from her father and ran to Bruce, jumping into his arms and planting her lips on his. When she pulled away she whispered in Bruce's ear. "I'm sorry beloved." Then Bruce fell to his knees writhing in pain.

When Bruce looked up at his love he saw a look of regret in her eyes as she held up a green piece of Kryptonium. "How?... Why?" was all he could mutter.

"You told me, remember."

Bruce did remember, it was the night they shared their first kiss.

"And as for the why. There is only one straight path to justice, Bruce." Talia continued as she went to stand next to her father. "And it is with the league. We'll make you see that, my beloved."

Bruce was taken aback with the source of the Kryptonium but not completely taken by surprise. While he was lying on the floor in apparent pain, he had taken the bracelet back out of his pocket. This was one trick that he didn't even tell Talia about. Now he just had to wait for the right opportunity. Two guards came in and Ra's gave them instructions to carry Bruce to a cell and to keep the rock close to him. When they were far enough down the hall Bruce flexed his muscles and threw his two bodyguards into each other. Before they could recuperate he put them out of order with a couple of quick chops to the neck. He kicked away the Kryptonium down the hall and before anyone could react he put away the bracelet and with one swift jump he flew through the roof. Once he had reached a safe distance he took a moment to look back at the place that had thought him so much. He could hear people asking Ra's and Talia if they should pursue him. Ra's declined. He knew it was too late to catch Bruce now. He did state however, that there would be another time. He could even hear the tears that were running down Talias cheeks hit the ground. As he wiped a tear from his own eyes, he realized this was the one time he wished his super hearing was still inaccurate.

Bruce flew off to Gotham. Breaking the sound barrier for his first time on the way. He smiled. He was ready now. He scanned the area around Wayne Manor with his very recently discovered enhanced vision. His powers had really leaped in two years, even though he barely used them. When all seemed clear he landed in front of the door and knocked it loud. He used his see-through-vision to see if Alfred was coming. When he could see him he knocked again. "Yes, yes. I heard you the first time." He heard Alfred yell. The door opened. "What is it?" Alfred stated just before he stared dumbstruck into Bruce's face. "Master Bruce." he said, a tear forming in his eye.

Bruce couldn't hold back a tear himself. "I'm home Alfred." He said as he took his long lost friend in his arms. "And I'm not leaving again anytime soon."

"How did you get here?" Alfred asked while he looked his young master up and down from head to toe.

"I flew." Bruce said.

"But Brainiac hasn't seen any activity in your bank accounts for two years now. How did you get a ticket?"

Bruce smiled and stepped back. "No, Alfred. I FLEW." he said as he started floating up from the ground. "On my own, Alfred:"

"My God." The butler said as he covered his mouth in astonishment. "There seems to be a lot to talk about."

"Yes there is my old friend. A lot to talk, and a lot to plan." Bruce said as he put an arm around his friends shoulder. "We need to work on this whole justice thing. I might need to wear a mask."

"Couldn't you just wear glasses?"

"I really doubt that would work Alfred. I'll need something dark. Maybe a bat theme, that would strike fear."

"Don't you hate those creatures?"

"I did, but hearing them again makes me feel..." Bruce paused and took a deep breath "home."

Alfred smiled. "One bat themed super hero costume, coming up." he answered with a sarcastic sigh. "And it's still good to have you home sir."


End file.
